Transient fly-by

Flyover

A sound flies past you like a plane overhead

Flyover turns each note or hit into a "flying object" that streaks past the listener. When the input crosses an onset threshold, a timed pass is launched: a virtual source travels in a straight line at a set speed, getting louder as it approaches, swelling wide as it sweeps overhead, then flipping to the opposite side and fading as it recedes. You hear an approach-and-depart whoosh with the image rushing across the ring, the apparent size of the sound ballooning to surround you at the closest point, and the bearing snapping 180 degrees behind you once it has passed. (It is a level-and-width swell, not a pitch effect - there is no Doppler pitch-shift.) It is transient-reactive: percussive or staccato material triggers the most dramatic, repeated fly-bys.

Flyover plugin interface

How to use it

  • Feed it transients. Flyover is triggered by note onsets, so it shines on drums, plucks, mallets, vocal consonants and other percussive sources. Sustained pads will trigger one pass and then sit idle until the next clear attack.
  • Tune the trigger first. If passes won't start, lower Onset Threshold (try 6-9 dB) so a smaller jump above the noise floor fires it, and/or lower Min Threshold (e.g. -80 dBFS) so quieter material isn't gated out. If it keeps re-triggering on noise, raise Onset Threshold and raise Min Threshold (e.g. -40 dBFS) so the noise floor stays below the absolute gate and is ignored.
  • Set the journey length with Duration, the rush with Speed. A short Duration (1-4 s) with high Speed (800-1500 MPH) gives a fast, dramatic whoosh; a long Duration (20-60 s) with low Speed gives a slow, distant drift-by.
  • Height controls how close it comes. Low Height (1-10 m) makes the object pass nearly on top of you, so it gets very loud and very wide at the centre; large Height keeps it far and tame, smoothing the level swell.
  • Source Width sets how wide the swell gets and where it happens. It scales the approach/depart "edges": small values keep a narrow point that only briefly balloons at the closest point; larger values stretch the widening over more of the pass.
  • Direction aims the flight path. 0 = front/centre, 90 = left, 180 = back, 270 = right (counter-clockwise). The object approaches from your chosen bearing and exits 180 degrees opposite.
  • Good starting point: Direction 0, Speed ~500 MPH, Duration ~10 s, Height ~10 m, Source Width ~10%, Onset Threshold 12 dB, Min Threshold -60 dBFS.
  • discrete steps quantises the motion to the 8 fixed speaker positions (45-degree snaps) for a stepped, teleporting feel instead of a smooth glide.
  • pause freezes the current pass in place; position reset aborts any pass in flight and is the only event that is click-smoothed, so use it freely to retrigger cleanly.
  • GUI moves only take effect between passes - change Speed, Duration, Height etc. while idle; tweaks made mid-flight are applied to the next pass, not the current one.
  • Avoid setting Output Level very high together with low Height: the 1/distance gain peaks sharply at the closest point and can spike loud.

Controls

Output Level
Overall output volume of the effect. Turn up for a louder pass, down to tame the level peak that occurs when the object is at its closest.
Direction
The bearing the object approaches from (counter-clockwise: 0 = front, 90 = left, 180 = back, 270 = right). It departs 180 degrees opposite after passing.
Speed
How fast the virtual object travels. Higher speeds make a faster, more dramatic rush-by; lower speeds drift more gently.
Duration
How long one fly-by lasts from approach to departure. Short = a quick whoosh, long = a slow distant pass.
Height
How far overhead the object passes. Low values bring it close (loud, wide swell at the centre); high values keep it distant and even.
Source Width
How much, and over what portion of the pass, the image swells wide as the object sweeps overhead. Larger values spread the widening across more of the journey.
Onset Threshold
How far above the running noise floor an attack must rise to trigger a new pass. Lower = more sensitive (triggers easily); higher = only strong transients fire it.
Min Threshold
Absolute floor below which input is ignored. Raise it to keep low-level noise or hiss from triggering passes; lower it to let quieter material through.
pause
Freezes the current pass (position, width and gain are held). Turn off to resume normal triggering.
discrete steps
Quantises the motion to the 8 fixed speaker positions (45-degree snaps) for a stepped, teleporting movement instead of a smooth glide.
position reset
Momentary trigger that aborts any pass in flight and returns to idle, click-smoothed by a de-click window. Use to retrigger cleanly.